= NOTE: I do not provide Legal Advice below. I'm just a guy who happens to be a lawyer expressing his opinion (based on lots of experience, mind you). If you want Legal Advice, talk to an attorney you trust. =
I posted a little comment at D Kos University, and have been e-corresponding with a friend about general legal matters, and now feel compelled to offer up my 2 cents on a couple of matters: Wills and (pardon the non sequitur) Employment Discrimination Law. These things, for the individual/family and for the small/medium-sized business, are too often overlooked or given short-shrift, until it's too late.
A little background. I've practiced law for 19 years. I've actually been a member of the Alabama Bar for almost 20 years, but my first year as a freshly-minted attorney was spent teaching English in a Middle School in rural Japan. You know, the way lawyers do.
I used to litigate. I don't any more. I loved taking depositions, cross-examining witnesses at trial, making closing arguments in State or Federal Court, but I got burned out on the larger process of litigation. Now I do a lot of international business work, but still keep a hand in "traditional law," Wills, Advanced Health Care Directives, Employment Policy drafting/updating, contract matters.
Note: "No representation is made that the quality of the services to be performed is greater then the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers." Actually, as said, I'm just opining here, not holding out that I'm looking "to perform" any services.
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Anyway, here's my opinion on two areas of Family & Small/Medium Business Practice, noting that when it comes to employment discrimination law, large companies must be on their toes, too. It's just that they have in house counsel and outside firms whispering in their ears day-in-and-day-out.
These are NOT comprehensive briefs on the ins and outs of these areas, rather, just very, very broad overviews to generate food for thought and, if you're so inclined, some discussion. Again, I'll give my general opinions, but not advise on any specific matters.
Wills, Advance Health Care Directives, Powers of Attorney
Regarding a simple Will/Living Will/Power of Atty package (say, at $750.00 for all; a going rate+/- in my part of the country). If one gets that, then, say, lives 10 more years, then is suddenly struck down, that ends up being $3.12/month that one's paid to save their loved ones a MOUNTAIN of hassle and grief and anguish just when they're already mourning one's passing. If
someone had, say, a 5 year old child when this hypothetical Will was made, and, thus, set up a Trust to take care of that child til they were 21 (we're not talking about a millionaire, "trust fund kid" situation, just basic stuff), there again is a world of hassle/legal crap that one's made sure their survivors don't have to go through.
And that doesn't even get to the whole thing about having an Advanced Health Care Directive -- "Living Will" -- set up to mitigate (if not wholly eliminate) the anguish of family members if a person winds up in a hospital ICU, comatose, and the doctors are putting "options" before the family and asking what to do. Remember Terry Schiavo.
The point is that, sure, while the upfront expense is not chump change for most people, what one gets for their money, the "bang for the buck" is, in my opinion, huge. Do not take my word for it. Talk to family members, talk to one's own lawyer.
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Employment Discrimination
Here I'm talking primarily to small and medium-size business owners and managers.
Small and medium-size businesses (not to mention large corps) need to make sure sure their Employment Anti-Discrimination Policies are well-written, disseminated to their employees, that all employees get training on this at least once a year, etc. Many of the most-known Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws come under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as Amended in 1990 (in the wake of Anita Hill's testimony during the Clarence Thomas hearings). Many Federal Laws prohibiting employment discrimination don't apply to businesses with under 15 employees. However, some can: such as the prohibition on race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. Section 1981. So small businesses shouldn't assume that they're "in the clear" just because they employ less than 15 people
At any rate, my experience tells me that what expense and hassle there is in making sure one's company has solid, clear, well-written policies in place, and disseminated to one's employees, is NOTHING compared to being a business without such policies, without training to back-up those policies, which then (fairly or unfairly) gets accused of wage discrimination or harassment or any number of
other acts of discrimination, gets brought before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission & or state or (more likely, depending on the state) U.S. District Court. "Oh, why! Oh, why! Didn't we have those
policies in place!?!?" is a nice lament, but doesn't help much after the fact.
Restaurants, Doctors' Offices, Accounting Firms, Small General Contracting Companies, even Law Offices (that don't specialize/think about employment discrimination law), can get thwacked with claims. If they have good policies and established practices in place, then the odds of such a thwacking will go down, or, at the very least, they'll be in a much better position to defend themselves, their business, if such a claim is made or case is filed.
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Anyway, I hope this provides food for thought. If it does, think about talking to your attorney about these things.
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